Across America, Deadly Echoes of Foreign Battles

News Type: Event — Seeded on Sun Jan 13, 2008 1:55 PM EST

Article Source: The New York Times

us-news, war, violence, iraq-war, psychology, veterans, violence-begets-violence

Here's an excerpt from this in-depth, nine-page article:

The New York Times found 121 cases in which veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan committed a killing in this country, or were charged with one, after their return from war. In many of those cases, combat trauma and the stress of deployment — along with alcohol abuse, family discord and other attendant problems — appear to have set the stage for a tragedy that was part destruction, part self-destruction.

Three-quarters of these veterans were still in the military at the time of the killing. More than half the killings involved guns, and the rest were stabbings, beatings, strangulations and bathtub drownings. Twenty-five offenders faced murder, manslaughter or homicide charges for fatal car crashes resulting from drunken, reckless or suicidal driving.

About a third of the victims were spouses, girlfriends, children or other relatives, among them 2-year-old Krisiauna Calaira Lewis, whose 20-year-old father slammed her against a wall when he was recuperating in Texas from a bombing near Falluja that blew off his foot and shook up his brain.

A quarter of the victims were fellow service members, including Specialist Richard Davis of the Army, who was stabbed repeatedly and then set ablaze, his body hidden in the woods by fellow soldiers a day after they all returned from Iraq.

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Public Discussion (3)

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3.2

{"commentId":1358885,"authorDomain":"vas"}

vas

I don't know if 121 is statistically greater than the homicide and attempted homicide rate for non-veterans. One would have to figure out the number of people who have returned from these wars and the average amount of time they've been back.

And even if the resulting rate was comparable to the non-veteran average, that kind of goes against the cliché that our military represents the best and most honorable of America, rather than being just the average person, or, as some suggest, a disproportionately violence-prone or violence-eager slice of America.

I personally believe violence begets violence. I also believe once you've killed another human being, it is much, much easier to cross that line the second time.

{"commentId":1358885,"threadId":"202383","contentId":"1224238","authorDomain":"vas"}

2 votes

#1 - Sun Jan 13, 2008 2:04 PM EST

{"commentId":1362439,"authorDomain":"tomcatt"}

Tom-226089

The average murder rate for the US is 5.8 offenders per 100,000. For males 18-27 (to average age of the returning veterans) it is 27 per 100,000. The rate for these veterans is 1.34 per 100,000, showing that the average person is much more likely to commit murder than one of these combat veterans.

{"commentId":1362439,"threadId":"202383","contentId":"1224238","authorDomain":"tomcatt"}

#2 - Mon Jan 14, 2008 3:35 PM EST

{"commentId":1369188,"authorDomain":"vas"}

vas

You should link to your sources when providing numbers like that.

{"commentId":1369188,"threadId":"202383","contentId":"1224238","authorDomain":"vas"}

1 vote

#2.1 - Wed Jan 16, 2008 12:08 PM EST

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VAS

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Across America, Deadly Echoes of Foreign Battles

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	Across America, Deadly Echoes of Foreign Battles - New York Times	The New York Times	Sun Jan 13	1
	Report: 121 Veterans Linked to Killings	Associated Press	Sun Jan 13	9